Driving down the street you see a billboard. It shows a group of young, attractive people. Everyone is smiling, obviously having fun. And in everyone's hand is a bottle of beer. Or you see a commercial with some men in the forest. There is a beautiful stream nearby. And everyone is sitting around the campfire holding a beer. The commercial depicts a scene that says that good friends and good beer equal a good time.

Maybe you are not interested in beer or wine. Maybe your drug of choice is marijuana. Nowadays it seems that marijuana is more popular than ever. Everyone from rap stars to movie stars to doctors are singing the praises of getting high on weed. It has been called a reliever of pain, an aid for those with glaucoma, and a relaxant for people who just want to get high in general. The marijuana leaf has become so commonplace that you can even buy a hat or t-shirt that proudly displays the marijuana leaf logo.

Yes, nowadays you can't drive your car, watch tv, or turn on your radio without somehow seeing and hearing how the world glamorizes the use of alcohol and drugs. But how does God feel about these substances? What does the Bible say about alcohol and drugs?

In this paper I will share different verses that make it crystal clear that the Lord is not pleased with those who choose to defile their bodies and minds by the use of alcohol and drugs. Here are the topics that I will cover:

(3) Just because something is natural, that does not mean that it is good

(4) Did you know that those who use mind-altering substances aredisqualifiedfrom being used by God?

(For Christians who insist that it is okay to drink as long as you drink "responsibly," I have a whole different paper for you to go to. It can be found here.)

Hopefully, this paper will help you to see that alcohol and drugs don't make you more social or more creative or a cooler person. Those substances only steal your health, cloud your mind, make you a danger to others, and lead you closer to hell and farther from God.

There are countless verses that show us God's displeasure in those who choose to use alcoholic substances and the negative effect alcohol will have in your life. Here are just a few verses:

1 Corinthians 6:10 lists drunkards among those who will not inherit the kingdom of God. "Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind, nor thieves, nor covetous, NOR DRUNKARDS, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God."

Galatians 5:21 "Envyings, murders, DRUNKENNESS, revelings, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have told you in time past, that THEY WHICH DO SUCH THINGS SHALL NOT INHERIT THE KINGDOM OF GOD."

Proverbs 23:19-21, "Hear thou, my son, and be wise, and guide thine heart in the way. Be not among winebibbers; among riotous eaters of flesh: for the drunkard and the glutton shall come to poverty."

And even though society tells you that drinking is fun, that people who drink are social and attractive, and that a little wine is good for your health, the Bible tells us something very different:

Proverbs 20:1 "Wine is a mocker, strong drink is raging: and whosoever is deceived thereby is not wise."

Isaiah 5:11, 22 "Woe unto them that rise up early in the morning, that they may follow strong drink; that continue until night, till wine inflame them! Woe unto them that are mighty to drink wine, and men of strength to mingle strong drink. "

Hosea 4:11 "Whoredom and wine and new wine take away the heart."

HOW DOES GOD WANT US TO LIVE? Titus 2:11-12 tells us, "For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men, teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world.

God does not want us to even spend time with people who are drunkards. 1 Corinthians 5:11, 13 "But now I have written unto you not to keep company, if any man that is called a brother be a fornicator, or covetous, or an idolater, or a railer, or a drunkard, or an extortioner; with such a one, no, not to eat... therefore put away from among yourselves that wicked person."

Ephesians 5:18, "And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the Holy Spirit."

Who do you think has your best interest at heart, the big corporations who make millions off of you by getting you to drink as much as possible? Your drug selling friend who is buying fancy cars and expensive clothes off of every ounce of marijuana that you are dumb enough to buy? Or God in heaven who created you and who warned you against alcohol and told you to live soberly and righteously?

Maybe you never thought of this, but you should know that drug use opens you up to spiritual attack. Some Indians used to use peyote and other "natural" substances to get high so that they could speak to their spiritual guides. I can tell you right now that those "guides" weren't angels of God; they were Satan's devils. Satan will use drugs and alcohol to get a stronghold in your life. He loves it when you drink and get high. Satan wants you to be off guard and hallucinating. There are specific demonic spirits associated with liquor and marijuana and cocaine and heroin, and opium, etc., and every time you use these substances, you could unknowingly be opening the doorway for these demonic spirits to come into your life.

Ephesians 6:12 warns us of such things: "For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places." Satan loves it when you drink alcohol and use drugs because you are then in no shape to fight against his attacks. You are leaving yourself wide open to demonic possession.

And satan loves it when you drink alcohol and use drugs because he knows that with your inhibitions lowered and your judgment gone, you will sin and get into things that you would have avoided had you not been intoxicated. How many people have been killed because of drunk drivers? How many babies have been aborted because two drunken strangers had sex that they later regretted? How many men and women have committed crimes against their neighbors and friends because they had to get some money for a quick fix?

God's Word warns against these things. Romans 13:12-14, "The night is far spent, the day is at hand: let us therefore cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armor of light. Let us walk honestly, as in the day; not in rioting and drunkenness, not in chambering and wantonness, not in strife and envying: but put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ and make no provision for the flesh, to fulfil the lusts thereof."

Proverbs 23:31-32 "Look not thou upon the wine when it is red, when it giveth his colour in the cup, when it moveth itself aright. At the last it biteth like a serpent, and stingeth like an adder."

Isaiah 28:7, "But they also have erred through wine, and through strong drink are out of the way; the priest and the prophet have erred through strong drink. They are swallowed up of wine, they are out of the way through strong drink; they err in vision, they stumble in judgment."

Does satan love the way you drink and get high? Are you living sober? Are you on guard? Remember Ephesians 6:11 instructs you to "Put on the whole armor of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil." So if you are struggling with sin in different areas of your life, ask yourself, "Am I leaving the door wide open for satan by the things I involve myself with?" And ask yourself, "Do I treat my body like the temple of the Holy Spirit or more like a temple of devils?"

Maybe you need to change your ways and follow the advice found here: 1 Peter 4:7, "But the end of all things is at hand: be ye therefore sober, and watch unto prayer."

In my Bible study lessons with different youths at the juvenile facility, eventually someone always brings up a certain verse to try to say that getting high by smoking weed is okay because "the Bible says that God made herb and that it is good." I have even had a couple of teens specifically show me a verse in Genesis to try to justify their getting high. The verse is Genesis 1:11-12, which reads, "And God said, Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb yielding seed, and the fruit tree yielding fruit after his kind, whose seed is in itself, upon the earth: and it was so. And the earth brought forth grass and herb yielding seed after his kind, and the tree yielding fruit, whose seed was in itself, after his kind: and God saw that it was good."

First of all, the "herb" or "grass" that this verse makes reference to is talking about the plants which are food for man and cattle and other beasts. (Refer to Genesis 1:29-30, Exodus 12:8, Deuteronomy 11:15, 1 Kings 18:5, Proverbs 15:17, Romans 14:2).

Secondly, just because God made something, that does not mean that He wants you to use that thing in a way that would harm yourself or others. God made many mushrooms that spring forth out of the ground and are poisonous. Do you think God wants you to eat these poisonous mushrooms? Are they good for you since God made them? Of course not. God also made the materials needed to fashion a gun, and God gave man the ability to use his brain to create different weapons. Does God want His created beings to use their God-given abilities to create weapons of destruction and ultimately kill one another? Of course not.

When Adam and Eve were in the Garden of Eden, there was a tree there that God had created. It was the tree that bore the fruit that would reveal knowledge about good and evil. It was a tree pleasant to the eye. It was also a tree that God told Adam and Eve to stay away from. God created this tree, but He did not want His children to have anything to do with it.

But satan came along and whispered in Eve's ear and told her that the fruit from this tree would make her wise and that eating from the tree would not harm her. Foolishly, instead of listening to God's instructions, Eve listened to the devil. We all know what happened next.

How many of you foolishly believe the devil's lie that smoking weed will give you knowledge, for example, make you more creative? How many of you are deceiving yourselves by saying, "but it is natural"? The forbidden tree in the Garden of Eden was "natural," too. How many of you are trying to prove something to your so-called friends and fit in with them instead of heeding God's warning to stay away from those substances that alter your behavior and damage your mind? Don't be surprised when you find that the price you have to pay for a quick high is more than you bargained for.

Don't you want to be used by God? How can God use you as a witness to others if you have no self-control, are setting a bad example to others, and are behaving just like the world by drinking and getting high? God's Word tells us that for us to be used by God, we must be sober and avoid intoxicating substances.

Titus 1:7-8, "For a bishop must be blameless, as the steward of God; not self-willed, not soon angry, not given to wine...But a lover of hospitality, a lover of good men, sober, just holy temperate.

Titus 2:2-6, "That the aged men be sober, grave, temperate, sound in faith, in charity, in patience. The aged women likewise, that they be in behavior as becometh holiness, not false accusers, not given to much wine, teachers of good things; that they may teach the young women to be sober, to love their husbands, to love their children... Young men likewise exhort to be soberminded.

This is what God's Word tells us about a great man of God, John the Baptist: Luke 1:15-16, "For he shall be great in the sight of the Lord, and shall drink neither wine nor strong drink; and he shall be filled with the Holy Ghost, even from his mother's womb. And many of the children of Israel shall he turn to the Lord their God.'

And this is what another great man of God, Daniel, did when given the opportunity to drink wine: Daniel 1:8, "But Daniel purposed in his heart that he would not defile himself with the portion of the king's meat, nor with the wine which he drank."

These men were used by God in a mighty way. God was able to use them because they did not defile their bodies or minds with alcohol or drugs. Do you think anyone would have listened to John the Baptist or Daniel or the disciples if they would have been hanging out at the bar during happy hour and getting drunk?

And if you are a Christian man or woman who is thinking, "But I'm not a bishop or deacon or someone chosen like John the Baptist. I am not under those same conditions. I'm just trying to enjoy a little wine with my meal," I want you to think on this: If you are truly saved and have been adopted into God's family, you are now called kings, priests, and saints. Revelation 1:5-6 says "Jesus Christ ... washed us from our sins in his own blood, and hath made us KINGS and PRIESTS unto God and his Father." And Revelation 5:10 also says that Jesus hast made us unto our God kings and priests. So you see, men and women, we have been adopted into God's royal family. "Ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation" (1 Peter 2:9). And the Bible says this of its kings and royalty: Proverbs 31:4 "It is not for kings, O Lemuel, it is not for kings to drink wine; nor for princes strong drink: lest they drink, and forget the law, and pervert the judgment of any of the afflicted."
So, friends, stop living like the world, and start living like God's holy royal people!

In conclusion, this corrupt world that we live in will tell you that to have fun and to be social and to look cool, you have to drink or get high. And then later if you become an alcoholic or a crackhead, this twisted world says, "Well, that is okay. You just have a "disease." But God's Word tells you that your body is a holy temple, and that you are not to defile yourself with these substances. And if you insist on rebelling against God and indulging in alcohol and drugs, God's Word calls you a drunkard and a fool. It is that simple.

You need to choose this day whom you will serve. You can serve God and ask Him to clean up your life, or you can continue serving your own fleshly lusts and drinking and getting high. And if you choose to serve God, you need to follow God's command as found in this verse: Ephesians 5:8, 11 "For ye were sometime darkness, but now are ye light in the Lord: walk as children of light; and have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them." So stop being entertained by wickedness and stop taking part in it. Stop calling evil good and good evil, and prepare for the battle that is at hand.